Gujarati Youth Put on a Spectacular Diwali Show

November 2003

Gujarati Samaj Youth Association (GSYA) staged a spectacular Diwali Show on the evening of Sunday, October 19, at the Gwinnet Civic Center. The confident and composed compeers, established an immediate rapport with the audience with occasional funny asides and jokes during brief pauses between show items. The professionally crafted multi-media show had an imaginative mix of cultural, spiritual and patriotic items, aimed to entertain and educate.

The Show began with a Prayer Dance "Humko man ki Shakti dena". The pre-teeners in colorful chaniya cholis set the right tone for rest of the show.

Patriotic fervor was provided by the presentation "Freedom Fighters of India: Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel." With the help of riveting slides, brief biographies of two great world-renowned Gujarati leaders, Gandhi and Sardar Patel, was presented. Both studied law in England, returned to India, gave up lucrative law careers to fight for Independence from the British rule. Einstein's eloquent homage to Gandhi was cited, "Generations to come, it may be, will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." Sardar was remembered for his stellar role in ensuring a unified India by persuading more than 550 princely States to be part of India. Nehru described The Iron Man of India, recipient of the Bharat Ratna, as "The first and foremost architect of India."

Soon to come was a stage-shaking, zippy bhangra style dance by energetic, high-voltage Gujabi Boys, to the song "Chapa, chapa, charka chale". The stage went dark and the four volatile dancers, holding lights in their hands performed twists, somersaults and twirls, jumping on each other's shoulders, to the pulsating song, "sona, sona", ending with a human pyramid! The supercharged audience joined in the thunderous song and dance by tapping feet, hand clapping and whistling.

?Dholi Taro Dhol Baaje" was a riot of color and a delight to watch. It was a fast paced, well-synchronized daandiya-raas, with pulsating drumbeats and quickening tempo as dancers weaved in and out of circles with nimble footwork, and fluid graceful movements.

"Muratiyo" (Prospective groom) was a hilarious skit, with laugh-a-minute lines and amusing acting.

The pi�ce de r�sistance was the last item "Vande Mataram". As the theatre was plunged into darkness, the stage had the soft glow of sunrise as backdrop. Young girls in uniform costumes came on stage with glowing tiny diyas in their hands and danced exquisitely to the rousing song, Vande Mataram. It cast a magical spell.

- Mahadev Desai

Enjoyed reading Khabar magazine? Subscribe to Khabar and get a full digital copy of this Indian-American community magazine.